LEBANON: Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora comments on the latest Israeli attacks, Italy leading the U.N. forces and rebuilding the South with Hizbollah.UNIFIL Major-General Alan Pellegrini says situation is tense

Lebanese Prime MInister Fouad Siniora said on Wednesday (August 23) that an international force would be established in Lebanon imminently. "Regarding the issue of the establishment of the international force, I believe and I am optimistic that the international force will deployed imminently in Lebanon. Today there is meeting in Brussels to discuss this issue and there are steps being taken by some countries to establish this," Siniora told a news conference. Siniora's comments came as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday rejected Israeli demands for the deployment of the international troops, describing it as a "hostile position." Siniora said that it was not in Lebanon's interest to have conflict with Syria and that Lebanon should be treated as a sovereign country. "It is not in Lebanon's interest to have conflict with Syria, just as it is not in Syria's interest to have conflict with Lebanon. The relations between the two countries should be like the relations between any two countries and be built on true and mutual respect," said Siniora. "Lebanon is a sovereign country and it must be treated as such, just as we treat Syria," he added. The United Nations is trying to assemble a force of 15,000 to monitor a truce in southern Lebanon after a 34-day war between Israeli and the Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla group Hizbollah, which ended eight days ago with an uneasy truce. UNIFIL Major-General Alan Pellegrini told reporter's the situation in Lebanon was "very fragile, tense, dangerous, volatile and with one incident matters could deteriorate very quickly." "We need more (troops) and as soon as possible...Everybody is welcome. On the contrary, the more we have, the better. It is not a problem," Major-General Pellegrini said. Major-General Pellegrini made clear to reporter's that: "Israelis cannot ask UNIFIL to disarm Hizbollah." Israel wants U.N. troops to police border crossings between Lebanon and Syria to prevent weapons smuggling. Many countries have demanded a clearer mandate for the expanded U.N. force, authorised by U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 establishing the ceasefire. That resolution also demands that Lebanon's borders be demarcated, particularly to solve a dispute over the Shebaa Farms, an Israeli-occupied strip near the border between Lebanon, Israel and Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The United Nations is trying to expand an existing UNIFIL peacekeeping force to 15,000 troops to monitor the truce, as mandated by a Security Council resolution adopted on Aug. 11. Italy, which will be leading the international force, will press fellow EU states on Wednesday to back up its pledge of troops by sending their soldiers to join a U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon. Rome announced on Tuesday it could provide as many as 3,000 troops out of a European contingent of anything up to 9,000. The U.N. has authorised a total force of 15,000. With France offering just 200 troops and other countries unwilling to put a figure on how many they would deploy, it is not clear how a substantial European contingent would be built. The 15,000 U.N. troops are due to work alongside a similar number of Lebanese soldiers already deploying in the south to support a truce which ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas. European troops are considered vital if the United Nations is to assemble an advance party of 3,500 troops by September 2.

ITN Source | August 23, 2006

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